For Trade Compliance & Customs

Classify from the drawing.
Defend it in the audit.

Most HTS codes are assigned from a SKU description long after the engineering decisions that actually determined the right code. SourceOptima reads each drawing — material, geometry, function, process — and proposes the HTS code that matches the part. For the hardest case in trade — the multi-component assembly imported as a single line — the platform walks the BOM, classifies every sub-component, and rolls the whole tree into a defensible landed cost with Section 301 and 232 exposure surfaced at the parent.

HTS · Section 301 · Section 232 · landed cost · assembly aggregation
The problem

HTS classifications are guesses
dressed up as decisions.

A single misclassified code applied across years of imports compounds into millions in overpaid duty — or millions in back-duty exposure when CBP looks back five years. The classification rationale is rarely documented because the engineering context never reaches the trade compliance team in the first place.

Symptom

Codes assigned from descriptions, not parts

Brokers classify from a SKU description in the ERP. The actual drawing — material grade, geometry, intended function — never enters the conversation.

Symptom

Section 301 and 232 blind spots

Steel and aluminum content hides inside multi-material assemblies. Chinese-origin sub-components hide inside finished goods. Both add 25% — and both are invisible at the line-item level.

Symptom

Five-year audit lookback, no rationale

CBP audits look back five years per import. Most companies cannot reproduce why a given HTS code was assigned, much less defend it with engineering evidence.

Symptom

Engineering changes silently break HTS

A material substitution or geometry change can shift the correct HTS code — but trade compliance is rarely informed. The first signal is usually an audit finding.

Trade compliance suite

One drawing.
Eight trade checks. Every revision.

Same modular plays architecture as the rest of the platform. Turn on the trade plays you need; layer in the rest as the engagement grows.

hts_classification

HTS classification

Code proposed from material, geometry, manufacturing process, and function — extracted directly from the drawing, not the SKU description.

section_301

Section 301 exposure

Cross-references supplier country-of-origin and sub-component sourcing against China-origin tariff schedules. Flags exposure at the line-item level, before declaration.

section_232

Section 232 exposure

Reads material specs from the drawing — A36, AISI 304, Al 6061 — and flags steel and aluminum content subject to Section 232 duties.

landed_cost

Landed cost calculator

Base unit cost + duty + Section 301 + Section 232 + freight + brokerage = true landed cost per unit. Defensible math, line by line.

assembly_aggregation

Assembly tariff aggregation

Multi-component imports declared as a single line — the hardest case in trade compliance. SourceOptima walks the BOM extracted from the drawing, classifies each sub-component, surfaces hidden 301/232 exposure at the sub-tier, and rolls the whole tree into a defensible parent classification with full audit evidence.

weight_verification

Weight verification

Calculates theoretical weight from drawing geometry. Drawing says 5kg, geom says 8.2kg → caught — and the correct weight goes on the customs declaration.

rationale_doc

Classification rationale

Every HTS code carries the engineering reasoning that produced it — material, function, manufacturing process. The audit defense exists before the audit notice.

revision_alerts

Revision impact alerts

When a drawing rev changes material grade or alters geometry that affects HTS, trade compliance gets an alert at engineering release — not at the next audit cycle.

Assembly tariff aggregation

The hardest case in trade compliance —
solved at the line item.

A multi-component assembly imported under a single HTS code is where every other tariff platform breaks down. Sub-tier suppliers in different countries, mixed materials, embedded steel and aluminum content, sub-components subject to Section 301 — none of it surfaces from a SKU description alone. SourceOptima walks every drawing in the BOM, classifies each sub-component independently, then rolls the whole tree into a defensible landed cost with full audit evidence.

  • BOM extracted directly from the drawing — sub-components, quantities, materials, and supplier origin pulled from the assembly drawing's bill of materials. No manual entry; no spreadsheet handoff to broker.
  • Per-component classification, run in parallel — each sub-part gets its own HTS, material grade, weight verification, and country-of-origin analysis. The BOM tree gets fully decomposed before anything rolls up.
  • Sub-tier 301 / 232 surfacing — Chinese-origin sub-components inside a non-Chinese assembly, and steel or aluminum content hidden inside a finished good, both surface at the parent line. The exposure that incumbents miss is the exposure CBP will find.
  • Substantial-transformation rationale — the parent assembly's HTS and country-of-origin call ships with the engineering reasoning behind the substantial-transformation determination — not a black-box answer.
  • BOM approval workflow — your trade compliance team reviews the proposed assembly tree, approves the rolled-up classification, and the entire decision chain is preserved as audit evidence — versioned, traceable, exportable.
  • Assembly-level cache — when one sub-component changes revision, only that branch re-runs. The rest of the tree's classifications remain valid and traceable, so you're never re-explaining decisions you've already made.
ASSEMBLY TARIFF · BOM-AWARE ROLLUP PARENT · DECLARED MX ORIGIN · 1 IMPORT LINE · 4,800 UNITS / YR Pump Housing Assembly $865 Cast steel housing A36 carbon · 7325.99 · 8.4 kg CN +301 +232 $180 Aluminum cover 6061-T6 · 7616.99 · 1.2 kg TW +232 $90 Stainless fittings AISI 304 · 7307.29 · 0.6 kg DE +232 $45 Rubber seal kit EPDM · 4016.93 · 0.1 kg VN clean $25 Fastener & hardware kit Carbon steel · 7318.15 · 0.4 kg CN +301 +232 $30 ROLLED UP · ASSEMBLY-LEVEL EXPOSURE Declared landed (single MX line): $890 / unit Actual with sub-tier 301 + 232 surfaced: $1,032 / unit Annualized audit exposure (4,800 units): $682k / yr
Section 301 & 232 exposure

Catch the duty exposure
before the goods land.

Section 301 (Chinese-origin) and Section 232 (steel and aluminum) tariffs add 10–25% to landed cost — and they apply line-by-line. SourceOptima crosses material specs against Section 232 applicability and supplier country-of-origin against Section 301 schedules at every drawing. Exposure surfaces before the broker files the entry, not after the next audit.

  • Material-driven 232 detection — every drawing's steel or aluminum content is flagged with the applicable rate.
  • Origin-driven 301 detection — supplier records cross-referenced for China-origin parts and sub-components.
  • Sub-tier exposure — Chinese sub-components inside US-finished goods get rolled up to the parent declaration.
  • Reclassification candidates — line items overpaying duty surface ranked by annual exposure.
RECLASSIFICATION CANDIDATES · TOP 5 Bracket assembly · A36 steel · CN supplier 142 SKUs · 301 + 232 missed $840k Forged housing · 6061-T6 · CN supplier 38 SKUs · 301 + 232 (Al) missed $520k Sheet metal panel · AISI 304 · DE supplier 86 SKUs · 232 missed only $310k Cast iron base · CN sub-component in MX assy 22 SKUs · 301 sub-tier missed $210k Machined fitting · 7075-T6 · TW supplier 14 SKUs · 232 (Al) missed $140k TOP 5 ANNUALIZED DUTY EXPOSURE recoverable via reclassification, supplier shift, or first sale $2.0M
The hardest line in any tariff filing isn't a single part — it's the multi-component assembly nobody can fully decompose. SourceOptima decomposes it, classifies every layer, and ships the audit defense alongside the declaration. — how we design the trade compliance experience
How trade compliance teams get started

Classification confidence
by your next quarterly review.

No new system to maintain, no broker handoff to renegotiate. SourceOptima runs over the drawings and HTS history you already have, and surfaces the most defensible classifications first.

Day 1

Drop in drawings + current HTS

Send your drawing archive — assemblies and components alike — and the HTS codes currently on file. SourceOptima walks every BOM, classifies each sub-component in parallel, and ranks the discrepancies by annualized duty exposure. First results within hours.

Week 1

A reclassification candidate list

Top-N line items overpaying duty, ranked by annualized exposure, each with the engineering rationale and audit-ready documentation attached. Something concrete to bring to your next compliance review.

Month 1

Continuous landed cost

Full landed cost across the import portfolio — base, duty, Section 301, Section 232, freight, brokerage — with the rationale for every code documented and exportable.

Ongoing

Trade in the engineering loop

New designs flow through trade compliance review at engineering-release time. Material substitutions and revision changes that affect HTS get flagged before the first import, not at the next audit cycle.

Bring an HTS code.
We'll show you the rationale we'd document.

Send a drawing and the HTS code currently on file. We'll come back inside an hour with the proposed classification, the engineering evidence, and any 301/232 exposure we'd flag.